Grandmother 'kidnaps' washing machine repair man

A grandmother 'kidnapped' a repair man after she became so sick of her constantly broken washing machine.

Tracey Fox: The grandmother of two said: 'I'm not proud of my actions, but I felt there was no other option'Photo: NORTH NEWS AND PICTURES

By Chris Irvine

1:26AM GMT 19 Jan 2009

Tracey Fox, 42, had survived three weeks without her washing machine, but barricaded herself against the door and refused to let the Currys engineer out of her home in Thornley, County Durham.

The grandmother of two said: "I'm not proud of my actions, but I felt there was no other option.

"It sounds stupid thinking about it now, but it was the final straw."

She bought the washing machine 10 months ago, and said she had requested an engineer five times.

She said: "The company had already cancelled on me four days earlier and I was already annoyed about that.

"It broke early December, but they told me that I would have to wait until after Christmas.

"When the man came round on the 13th, he checked the machine and pulled out a 2p and said: "That's what's causing your problem."

She continued: "But the machine still wasn't working, and I asked when he would fix the other problems.

"He said that I'd have to pay for any repairs, even though the machine was still under warranty, and I might as well get a new one because the amount it would cost to fix it would be the same as buying another one.

"Then he was going to leave and that's when I lost it. I told him he'd have to dial 999 because there was no way I was letting him out until it was fixed.

After police were called, the situation was resolved and Currys have since offered her and her husband Terry, 44, a new washing machine.

Durham Police confirmed they were called to the address but no further action is to be taken.

Currys said an investigation had since been launched and would not comment any further.